Cape Verde(vɜːd) is a group of islands, west of Senegal, located 16 00 N, 24 00 W. The islands has a total area of 4,033 sq km. The capital is Praia on the island of Sao Tiago. Portuguese is the official, but criolo is the

language of daily life.

The population is 508,659, with a life expectancy of 70.41 years. The ethnic breakdown is 71% Creole , 28% African, and 1% European. The island is 88.1% Roman Catholic, 3.3% Protestant (mostly Church of the Nazarene), 3.7% other Christian, 2.8%Muslim,2.1% other. The literacy rate is 85.8% male and 69.2% female.